Namespace servers

Updated: August 22, 2005

Applies To: Windows Server 2003 R2

A namespace server is a domain controller or member server that hosts a namespace. The number of namespaces you can host on a server is determined by the operating system running on the namespace server.

Servers running the following operating systems can host a single namespace:

Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard Edition
Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
Any version of Windows® 2000 Server

Important
To create multiple domain-based namespaces on a server running Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, install the hotfix described in article 903651 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base on the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?linkid=53476).

The following servers can host multiple namespaces:

Windows Server 2003 R2, Enterprise Edition
Windows Server 2003 R2, Datacenter Edition
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition

The following table describes additional factors to consider when choosing servers to host a namespace.

Guidelines for Servers That Host Namespaces

Server Hosting Stand-Alone Namespaces	Server Hosting Domain-based Namespaces
Must contain an NTFS volume to host the namespace. Can be a member server or domain controller. Can be a clustered file server.	Must contain an NTFS volume to host the namespace. Must be a member server or domain controller in the domain in which the namespace is configured. (This requirement applies to every namespace server that hosts a given domain-based namespace.) The namespace cannot be a clustered resource in a server cluster. However, you can locate the namespace on a server that also functions as a node in a server cluster if you configure the namespace to use only local resources on that server.

Server Hosting Stand-Alone Namespaces

Server Hosting Domain-based Namespaces

Must contain an NTFS volume to host the namespace.
Can be a member server or domain controller.
Can be a clustered file server.

Must contain an NTFS volume to host the namespace.
Must be a member server or domain controller in the domain in which the namespace is configured. (This requirement applies to every namespace server that hosts a given domain-based namespace.)
The namespace cannot be a clustered resource in a server cluster. However, you can locate the namespace on a server that also functions as a node in a server cluster if you configure the namespace to use only local resources on that server.

See Also

Other Resources